On-Form Nicky Notches Second Pole Of Season

Nicky Hayden (Repsol Honda
RC211V) powered his Honda to
pole position here at the Sachsenring
and signalled a new found confidence
in his growing stature as a
rider. Honda machines monopolised
the front row with Sete Gibernau
(Team Movistar Honda RC211V)
qualifying second fastest and
Alex Barros (Camel Honda RC211V)
third.

Nicky HAYDEN (Repsol
Honda Team)

Nicky HAYDEN (Repsol Honda Team)

Even six minutes into the
hour-long qualifying session
the young American (24 today)
topped the timesheet and always
looked comfortable on the
swooping tarmac of this roller-coaster
3.671km track. He's clearly
gained confidence after his
win from pole position at
Laguna Seca and is determined
to elevate himself from his
current position of seventh
overall in the World Championship.

The Sachsenring is composed
of 10 left-hand turns and
only three right-handers which
favours Hayden and his dirt-track
derived riding style where
he feels comfortable hanging
the rear-end of his machine
out on left-handers. But his
first pole at a European track
is significant in that it
marks his mastery of a track
that was entirely alien to
him just two years ago.

The track was dry today
after searing heat yesterday
followed by a bout of torrential
rain in the evening. With
an ambient temperature of
24 degrees and with the track
at 36 degrees after the unprecedented
52 degree track temperature
of yesterday, conditions were
hugely changed today.

Kenny Roberts (Suzuki) looked
good early on in the session
and he and his team-mate John
Hopkins were first and second
fastest with 20 minutes of
the session gone. But Gibernau
soon knocked the Suzuki's
off the top in the final 20
minutes with a 1m 22.889s
lap.

Reigning World Champion
Valentino Rossi (Yamaha) had
been struggling to get his
machine on the pace here yesterday
and although he found some
extra speed, it was not enough
to secure a vital front row
start. He was second fastest
with 12 minutes left, but
was then relegated to third
fastest before having to settle
for row two by the end.

The tight turn one here
is a problem on the first
lap and all riders acknowledge
that a front row start is
almost essential to avoid
having to work too hard at
overtaking at a track where
opportunities are few – and
have to be taken whenever
they present themselves.

Sete ran into front-end
problems towards the end of
the session and did not have
the opportunity to make the
most of his qualifying tyres.
But the Spaniard is only 0.104
seconds off Hayden's 1m 22.785s
pole time. However, the top
ten riders are separated by
a mere 0.511 seconds and the
racing is bound to be tight
and ferocious tomorrow.

Carlos Checa (Ducati) had
climbed up the order from
outside the top ten to third
fastest at the halfway point,
but then crashed heavily with
14 minutes left, high-siding
his machine on the super-fast
downhill section into the
penultimate turn. The durable
Spanish rider was unhurt while
his first choice machine sustained
heavy damage.

Marco Melandri (Team Movistar
Honda RC211V) found it hard
going here. The Italian ace
was outside the top ten until
the final three minutes when
he hoisted himself to fifth
fastest ahead of Max Biaggi
(Repsol Honda RC211V) who
still can't get the best from
his factory RCV.

Makoto Tamada (Konica Minolta
Honda RC211V) is still not
back to his best and could
only manage a fifth row start
from 15th, while Troy Bayliss
(Camel Honda RC211V) was another
rider who found it hard work
here. The Aussie qualified
16th.

"This is my way of
celebrating," said Nicky,
who is 24-years-old today. "But
tomorrow's the big one. My
Laguna Seca pole was cool
but everyone was saying 'it's
because he knows the track
and likes it'. But now this
pole is at a track that everyone
else knows real well and so
this is good."

Sete said, "We hope
to turn this year around,
be fast and have a good race.
We ran into some front-end
problems right at the end
of the session and so that's
a bit of a worry for tomorrow
and something that we'll have
a close look at tonight."

Barros, who fell at turn
one in the final 10 minutes
without injury, was happy
enough with the front row. "I
feel confident here," said
the experienced Brazilian
who will start his 251st Grand
Prix tomorrow. "The bike
is working well and despite
crashing yesterday and today,
we've got to be looking at
getting a good result tomorrow."

Melandri said, "For
the first time this season
we had to make a lot of changes
to the settings of the bike,
heading in a completely new
direction, and I had difficulty
getting used to the configuration.
The feeling improved this
afternoon but I think I still
have a lot of room for improvement.
Qualifying on the second row
is a big relief."

Max, who has now gone 18
races without a win, said, "I
have to be happy with the
second row but even that hasn't
happened much this season
and that tells its own story.
The bike feels worse than
last year here and I'm not
comfortable. But the team
has worked very hard this
weekend and we have made some
progress, but not enough.
The problem we've had all
season is still there and
at the moment we can't seem
to find a cure."

Tamada said, "I'm disappointed
about today. But tomorrow
I will react aggressively.
This afternoon the bike responded
completely differently to
yesterday and this morning.
Conditions changed making
things complicated. Today
the track temperature was
15 degrees lower than yesterday
and tomorrow we'll have to
use our 20 minutes warm-up
to find a set-up which will
help me in the race."

"It's hard to describe
this session," said Bayliss. "I
was always in the top seven
in free training and I wanted
a lot better than the sixth
row of the grid. I had a small
problem with the front brake
but that's not the main issue.
The front-end felt different
throughout the session, but
I just need to believe I can
do it in the race tomorrow."

In the 250cc class Alex
de Angelis (Aprilia) stole
pole from Dani Pedrosa (Team
Movistar Honda RS250RW) with
a lap of 1m 24.618s in the
closing minutes of the session.
Dani had established a new
record pole time of 1m24.714s
before the Italian robbed
the World Championship leader
of what would have been his
fifth pole of the season so
far.

Yuki Takahashi (Scot Racing
Team Honda RS250RW) put in
his best qualifying performance
of rookie season so far with
sixth on the grid, Hector
Barbera (Fortuna Honda RS250RW)
heads row three as ninth fastest
while Andrea Dovizioso (Scot
Racing Team Honda RS250RW),
trying to recapture his early
season form, qualified tenth.

"I'm happy because
we improved from yesterday," said
Dani. "We still have
to see if there's going to
be any more rain tomorrow,
but my set-up is good. It's
a long race tomorrow and I
don't want to say too much
right now. We'll just see
what we can do tomorrow."

Lorenzo said," We had
some problems with the front
suspension this morning and
we seem to have cured that
so I'm happy about that. The
bike's going well and I'll
just have to make sure I get
a good start after working
hard to get on the front row."

Mika Kallio (KTM) snatched
pole in the 125cc class with
a lap time of 1m27.695 seconds
in the last moments of the
final half-hour of qualifying.
Marco Simoncelli (Aprilia)
was second fastest qualifier
with Thomas Luthi (Elit Grand
Prix Honda RS125R) third fastest
and current series points
leader Mattia Pasini (Aprilia)
completing the front row.

This is Kallio's sixth pole
of the season, but Luthi's
fifth front row start of the
year puts him in a position
to be among the leaders into
turn one in tomorrow's race.
This tight turn is usually
heavily congested at the start
and a good grid slot is vital
here.

Luthi headed the timesheet
at the halfway stage of the
session and always looked
likely to be among the front-runners
here. Aleix Espargaro (Seedorf
Racing Honda RS125R), who
is 16 today, briefly held
second fastest time until
the regular fast men began
to monopolise the front row.

Tomoyoshi Koyama (Ajo Motorsport
Honda RS125R) qualified sixth,
his best effort so far, while
Espargaro had to be content
with row three in the end
as 11th fastest qualifier.
Fabrizio Lai (Kopron Racing
World Honda RS125RW) qualified
13th.

"My last lap was my
fastest," said Luthi. "But
I maybe could have done better.
I got tangles up with a slower
rider at turn three and that
cost me time. The track is
bumpy and it seems to get
worse each year. The chassis
is maybe not quite perfect
but the engine is really strong.
The race should be really
good fun tomorrow with maybe
up to ten riders in the leading
group."

Daniel PEDROSA (Telefonica Movistar
Honda 250cc)

Yuki TAKAHASHI (Team Scot)

MotoGP:

Nicky Hayden, Repsol
Honda Team: 1st: “That’s
not a bad way to celebrate
your birthday but tomorrow’s
when it all counts. If we
can put it all together in
the race we’ll really
earn some cake! It feels really
good to get pole here. Laguna
was cool as it was my first
pole and of course it was
at home but I’m sure
there were people around who
said that I only got pole
because I knew the place so
well. It’s good to come
here and go fastest against
a whole bunch of guys who
know this place a whole lot
better than I do. The bike
feels pretty good for the
race. My boys have done a
real good job. I’m definitely
going to try and stay up front
all day. We’ll just
go for it and see what happens.”

Sete Gibernau, Movistar
Honda MotoGP: 2nd:
“We
prepared well for the final
session, as we had for the
three beforehand, but I can't
deny a slightly bitter taste
in my mouth over the result.
We've had a few unexpected
problems with the front end
that meant I was unable to
finish the job off with the
qualifying tyre. I would have
liked to set pole but we have
to have confidence in the
good race pace we found today
and use the warm up to have
a look at what happened in
the final few minutes before
going out and giving everything
in the race.”

Alex Barros, Camel Honda:3rd:
“I’m quite happy, I feel good at this
track and I think I’ve got quite a good pace in the
low 1’24s; and if that is the pace of tomorrow’s
race, as I believe it will be, I think we can go well.
Today’s crash during qualifying was a little strange,
I lost control of the front for no real reason but besides
that I’m completely satisfied with how the bike
is behaving and I’m confident for the race.”

Marco Melandri, Movistar Honda MotoGP: 5th:
“For the first time this
season we had to make a lot of
changes
to the setting of the bike
this morning, heading in a
completely new direction,
and I had a little difficulty
getting used to the new configuration.
The feeling improved in qualifying
this afternoon but I think
I still have a lot of room
for improvement. Qualifying
on the second row of the grid
has been a big relief and
together with the team I will
try and refine a few details
tomorrow in the warm up. The
race will be very demanding
and it will be important to
get a good start here because
it is so difficult to overtake.”

Max
Biaggi, Repsol Honda Team: 6th:
“I have to be happy in a
way to get on the second row of
the grid – even
that hasn’t happened much
this season and I guess that tells
it’s own story. The bike
feels worse here than last year
and I’m not comfortable.
The team have worked very hard
this weekend and we have made some
progress but not enough. Basically
the problem we have had all season
is still there and at the moment
we seem to have no cure. We will
have a hard race tomorrow as many
riders have a fast pace. We will
see!”

Makoto
Tamada, Konica Minolta Honda:
15th:
“I’m disappointed about today’s
performance but tomorrow I
will react on the track with
the right aggressiveness.
This afternoon the bike responded
completely different compare
to yesterday and this morning.
The circuit conditions have
changed giving me some complications
to find the right setting.
In fact, today the temperature
of the track was about 15
degrees lower than yesterday;
we have passed from almost
50 degrees to just a bit more
than 30. Tomorrow morning
we’ll have to use in
the best way possible the
20 minutes warm up to try
to find a good set up which
would allow me to climb various
positions during the race
and conquer an honourable
result.”

Troy Bayliss, Camel Honda: 16th:
“It is honestly
hard for me to find the words
to describe this qualifying
session, because having been
in the top seven in the other
practices, eighth at the worst,
I seriously hoped for more
than the sixth row. Instead
I had a slight problem with
the front brake, I had a different
sensation there today, but
I can’t honestly blame
it on that. Unfortunately
during the whole session I
couldn’t regain the
feeling I had enjoyed before.
With the qualifying tyres
I only took just over a tenth
off my best time with race
tyres, a ridiculous improvement.
Now I’m disappointed,
but I will continue to believe
and will give it my best shot.”

250cc:

Dani Pedrosa, MoviStar Honda: 2nd:
“Today we've improved the
set-up of the bike and the race
pace. This step forward gives me
confidence that we can perform
to our best tomorrow although
we will have to pay attention
to a lot of riders because there
is a big group within only a few
tenths. The bike configuration
is good so I'm completely confident
about my chances. Now the only
unknown is the weather. It would
be a shame if it rains because
we haven't had chance to rid in
the wet here but we'll just haveto
be prepared for anything.”

Jorge Lorenzo, Fortuna Honda: 3rd:
“I am happy because compared with this morning I got a lot more confidence with
the front end in the afternoon and that allowed me to go much
faster. It will almost be an endurance race, where physical
condition could prove to be a major advantage when it comes
to winning the race. Hopefully that plays in our favour.”

Hiroshi Aoyama, MoviStar Honda: 5th:
“The front row escaped me
by very little but the important
thing is the race. The weekend
hasn't gone badly and now it's
time to follow that up. I feel
good on the bike and I still think
we can improve it a little more
in the warm up. I'm very motivated
and I want to fight for the podium.
Normally I get good starts so
I hope to get involved with the
lead group from the start and hang
on until the end.”

Yuki Takahashi, Scot Honda: 6th:
“I like this track! I've found the set up I need and now I'm also fast in T3 and T4.
If it doesn't rain and I get a good start I can race with the
front group. The choice of tyres will be fundamental and it will
depend on the weather conditions.”

Hector Barbera, Fortuna Honda: 9th:
“We’ve improved
my lap time from yesterday by
almost a second although that
is still not enough. I’m
only five tenths off fifth place,
which is highly motivating. Little
by little we are finding our way
and getting some consistency together.
It will be a difficult race. I’m
really keen to ride at the front
again and demonstrating my ability.
We’re all going to find
it difficult after 29 laps but
I have worked hard on my physical
condition recently which has allowed
me to enjoy the races much more.”

Andrea Dovizioso, Scot
Honda: 10th:
“We have big setting problems and I don't like this
track at all. Yesterday the front
end was sliding badly and I could
not get a good lap time because
of that. My problem now is that
we don't have much time in the
warm up to improve and find the
set up we need for the race.”

Dirk Heidolf, Kiefer
Castrol Honda: 18th:
“Not so happy
with my qualifying. The bike is
very good, engine and suspension
are working really good. But I
left it too late to go for fast times when I tried over the last
few laps I got caught up with
slower riders, on my best lap
I caught Jakub (Smrz) but he was
going a little slower than me
so I couldn't get a better time.
I'm not really pleased because
I wanted to be in the top 15 on
the grid for my home GP.”

Jakub Smrz, Molenaar
Honda: 19th:
“Qualifying was not so good today, even if I did improve
my time. Yesterday the bike was
pretty good but we made some changes
to the front end which turned
out not so good causing me a lot
of rear wheel slides, three or
four of them really big ones,
I felt like I was power sliding
the bike. We will go back to what
we know works for the warm up.
One thing for sure.”

Alex Debon, Wurth Honda BQR: 21st:
“Today was a bad one
for us. My engine was not fast
I am way down on top speed. Ii
have been trying a new swinging
arm but it doesn't have the same
flex factor of the original and
this caused me some rear end problems.
We will revert to the original
swinging arm tonight and I hope
we can improve the engine for
the warm up. Whatever happens
I will need a good start if I
am to get points in the race.”

Radomil Rous, Wurth
Honda BQR: 25th:
“This is my first time
at the Sachsenring, it's a very
technical and I have found it
difficult so far. In the morning
a small bolt on the valve
mechanism broke and I lost power
so I wasted too much time. Still
we have to be positive and look
forward to the race. If I get
a good start I will have a good
race.”

125cc:

Thomas Luthi, Elit Honda: 3rd:
“My last lap was my fastest but it
could have been better but I met
a slower rider at T3 and he cost
me a little time The track is
also bumpy, it gets worse every
year. This caused us a few problems
with the suspension. We fixed
most of the problems but it's
still not perfect. The engine
is strong so I expect a good race.
I think we will have a lot of
fun in the race, there could be
ten of us in the leading group.”

Tomoyoshi Koyama, Ajo Motorsport Honda: 6th:
“My engine is really fast and I'm happy with that. The only real problem I is with front end chatter but we have improved that in the last session. When I started setting fast times my third gear was too short for the track but that we can change for the arm up.”

Aleix Espargaro, Seedorf RC3 Tiempo Holidays Honda: 11th:
“I'm happy. This morning I had a very good practice finishing in fifth position. We had to do some tests with the tyres and I finishe satisfied with them, feeling very comfortable.
I think that my time of 1m 28.736s is a good time. At the end of the
session I have not been able to improve on that. But I think I have a good pace for the race,
something really important for tomorrow.”

Fabrizio Lai, Kopron Racing World Honda: 13th:
“For the qualifying session I had just one time-tyre, allocated by Dunlop,
but we have used it too early. I've obtained a good time but
in the last laps but all the other riders improved their time, unfortunately
I've finished the tyre and I couldn't improve my time.”

Sandro Cortese, Kiefer Boss Castrol Honda: 15th:
“I'm happy with qualifying
the engine is very good but we
had suspension problems. The front
end was chattering and the rear
moving around. The team
have fixed the front end but I
still had a couple of small rear
end slides.
I need a good start and if I get
one I will have a good race.”

Toshihisa Kuzuhara, Angaia Racing Honda: 16th:
“I like the circuit very much my only slight
problem is at T2 and T3 where
I find it difficult to hold my
line. We had some suspension problems
on the bumps but the bike is working
well now. Tomorrow it will be
necessary to get a good start and ride well
for he first two or three laps.”

Alvaro Bautista, Seedorf
RC3 Tiempo Holidays Honda: 19th:
“I have improved from yesterday.
It seems that the bike is going a little bit better, but we still have some things to do to ride really fast. I have middle to low 1m 29s. Lets see if tomorrow
we can use the warm up to find solutions that give us more chance in the race.”

Mike Di Meglio, Kopron
Racing World Honda: 20th:
“I have used the time-tyre too early,
too. I have also problems in T3 corners that I have to learn better.
This year Fabrizio (Lai) and I have always made good starts.
If tomorrow we start well, we can make a good race because the
bikes are OK.”

Alexis Masbou, Ajo Motorsport
Honda: 24th:
“Yesterday we had a lot of problems with the
suspension front and rear but
the team worked hard for me and
the bike has improved. I feel
a lot better today. I'm not really
disappointed with the time just
my position on the grid.”

Raymond Schouten, Molenaar Honda: 31st:
“I am happy with my time but not my place on the grid.
My time of 1m 30.2s isn't too
because I made a couple of small
mistakes on my fast lap. My problem
is the tyres, they are only working
well for about eight laps.”